| Davis Dam | |
 Davis Dam |
|
| Official name | Davis Dam |
|---|---|
| Impounds | Colorado River |
| Locale | Nevada & Arizona, USA |
| Length | 490m |
| Height | 60m |
| Height | 41m |
| Opening date | 1951 |
| Power generation information | |
| Turbines | 5 Francis turbines |
| Installed capacity | 251 MW |
| Maintained by | U.S. Bureau of Reclamation |
Davis Dam is a dam on the Colorado River about 45 miles (72 km)) downstream from Hoover Dam. It stretches across the border between Arizona and Nevada. Originally called Bullhead Dam, Davis dam was renamed after Arthur Powell Davis, who was the director of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from 1914 to 1932. The United States Bureau of Reclamation owns and operates the dam, which was completed in 1951.
Davis Dam is a zoned earth fill dam with a concrete spillway, 1,600 ft (490 m) in length at the crest, and 200 ft (61 m) high. The earth fill dam begins on the Nevada side, but it does not extend to the Arizona side. Instead, there is an inlet formed by earth and concrete. At the end of the inlet, there is the spillway. The power plant is on the side of the inlet, perpendicular to the dam. This is a very unusual design. The dam's purpose is to reregulate releases from Hoover Dam and facilitate the delivery of Colorado River water to Mexico. Bullhead City, Arizona, and Laughlin, Nevada, are located just below the dam along the river. Davis Camp is also nearby. Bullhead City was originally a construction town for workers building the dam.
A road is located on the crest of the earth fill portion of the dam and a bridge spans the inlet. It was formerly a stretch of Arizona State Route 68. The highway was rerouted in 2004, which allowed more lanes for the highway and increased security at the dam. Also, barriers have been placed on each side of the dam. The barriers are intended to stop vehicles, but pedestrians are not prohibited on the dam. The rest of the road is open to traffic.
The Davis Dam Power Plant is located on the Arizona side of the dam. The hydroelectric plant generates between 1 and 2 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. The plant has a capacity of 251 MW (337,000 hp) and the tops of its five Francis turbines are visible from outside the plant. The plant's head is 136 ft (41 m).
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